Halle Berry was given the fright of her life recently when her young daughter Nahla went missing in a big department store, sending the mother into a frenzied panic. The Hollywood star was clothes shopping with the three year old when she momentarily lost sight of the tot.

The mum-of-one admits she started "freaking out" and demanded store staff lock down the area until her little girl was found. She tells talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, "Every mum can relate when you lose your kid in the department store. Talk about sweating. And you just freak out for about 30 seconds. I came undone. I think my head projected off my body."

"So she was standing there and I had her hand, I swear I did, and then all of a sudden, I looked down at a price tag or something and she toddled off for what seemed like two seconds and then the next thing I know, I looked back around and it was like whoosh! Gone. And I said, 'Nahla? Nahla? Nahla?' Gone. And my heart just started... And I'm like, 'Close the store! Shut the door! My daughter's gone!' "

But Berry was forced to apologize to store employees when Nahla popped out of a rack of clothes, safe and sound. The actress adds, "She was right next to me. In a rounder of clothes where the pants were hanging. Right there. And after I became a lunatic and totally embarrassed myself, she stuck her head out and was like, 'Hi'." The interview will air in the U.S. on Monday, November 15.